MINNEAPOLIS -- The final look of the White Sox 14-4 loss to the Twins on Tuesday night at Target Field was a bit deceiving.

• Box score

A seven-run eighth inning put together against Kelvin Herrera and Héctor Santiago gave the Twins an easy finish for their 77th victory of the season. But it was a fifth inning full of miscues behind White Sox starter Reynaldo López that turned a 3-3 deadlock into four unearned runs and the South Siders’ fourth loss in five games in Minneapolis this season. The Twins have outscored the White Sox, 89-39, in 2019.

“That was the game in essence,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said of the fifth.

“What can I say?” Lopez said through interpreter Billy Russo. “I missed a few pitches, and that's the reason why I couldn't get out of that inning with no runs.”

With two outs and nobody on base, Jake Cave lined a single that fell in front of left fielder Eloy Jimenez. Off the bat, the drive looked catchable for Jimenez, but he seemed to freeze upon contact and then played the ball on one hop. Renteria believed Jimenez lost the ball in the lights.

Lopez appeared to be out of trouble when Max Kepler tapped a ball in front of the plate, but first baseman Jose Abreu dropped catcher Welington Castillo's throw, which tailed just a bit toward the runner. Lopez hit Jorge Polanco with a pitch to load the bases, and Nelson Cruz followed with a tie-breaking double off the right-field wall, marking one of four extra-base hits in the game for Minnesota's designated hitter. Eddie Rosario singled home two more to complete the damage.

Renteria explained Castillo dropped his arm on the throw and ran the ball behind Kepler. Abreu was trying to get to the throw and save his arm at the same time. Lopez put the blame on nobody but himself for the Twins’ game-changing inning.

“Errors are a part of the game. Everybody makes errors. That didn't affect me at all,” Lopez said. “That didn't take me out of the game mentally. I kept my focus. It was just bad execution on my part. I missed a few pitches, and that's what happens when you miss your spots. The next inning, I was good. I retired the three batters that I faced. That was just poor execution on my part.”

“Wely kicks himself,” Renteria said. “He knew he had plenty of time to make a better throw to the infield side of the bag. That would have eliminated that stuff.”

Over six innings and 89 pitches, Lopez (7-11) allowed seven runs (three earned) and struck out three. Homers to Cruz and Kepler set a new single-season high of 27 long balls allowed by Lopez. The White Sox got home runs from Abreu and Tim Anderson.

Even Mother Nature worked against Lopez and the White Sox in that fateful fifth. With runners on first and third and a 2-1 count on Polanco, a squirrel ran onto the field and between Kepler’s legs leading off first base before racing for the White Sox dugout.

There was no confirmation as to whether it was the same squirrel appearing at the game Monday night, but it caused the game to be stopped mid pitch. According to Lopez, it changed the feel of the Polanco at-bat.

“In that moment, I was ready to throw a fastball outside. I was ready for it,” Lopez said. “I knew that the hitter wouldn't be able to hit that ball because I was pretty confident on the spot where I wanted that pitch to be.

“That was just a bad break. That took me out of a mindset because now we had to regroup and rethink the next pitch. Those things happen. That's part of the game. That's where it is. If I could take that moment back, the hitter wouldn't have any chance to hit that pitch.”